Fatality Friday is here!Well, Midway's planned release
date for MK: Deadly Alliance, Fatality
Friday, is here. So, this marks the official release date for
the game, but the day has nevertheless lost its effect due to the fact
that the game hit many store shelves on Monday, so I guess we just have
to live with it. But, for all those stores that felt the need to
stick to this special day, they probably have their copies of MK: DA now
as well. Like I said two days ago, a lot of the characters, secrets,
and Krypt objects have already been discovered, and because I am editing
this site all alone and am very busy with college, the MK: DA section
will not be updated with all the goods until anywhere between Thanksgiving
and the beginning of December. Sorry, I know I am always behind the
the other sites with stuff like this, but I'm only one person, and you
know that the wait for the results are well worth it here at the MK Empire
because they are so thorough and extensive. So, keep your browsers
pointed to this site often to check for those surprises, and enjoy MK:
DA on this Fatality Friday!

GameSpot updates with some new MK: DA kontentOn November 20th, GameSpot
updated their MK:
Deadly Alliance section with many new things for readers to
enjoy. To start off, they posted 25
new screenshots from the game that have never been seen before
and in my opinion look so great. Then, they posted a page dedicated
to character
fatalities and secret characters for people to easily navigate
through. On top of this, the staff at the site wrote a comprehensive
review for the game in its entirety, focusing on graphics,
sound, gameplay, and so on. In short, they give the XBox the overall
best rating out of the three consoles (but it's up to each gamer to make
his/her own assumption), and they give the game an overall rating of 8.1.
Yet, the average reader review rating for the game is a whole point higher
at 9.1, so it all depends on again player opinion. So, make sure
you check out all of their new features when you can.

Official MK: Deadly Alliance Site updateA few days ago, the Official
MK: Deadly Alliance Site updated the character profile &
information section of the site with biographies and fighting styles for
the rest of the accessible characters in MK: Deadly
Alliance. So, now you can read up on more info for Drahmin,
Bo Rai Cho, Cyrax, Frost, and Johnny Cage, as well as for the characters
that were already posted. This is well worth a look because there
are some cool character sketches and screenshots of fighting styles for
us to see, so hop on over if you can.

GameCube and GameBoy Advance games not linkable?Thanks to MK5.org,
they have discovered that an earlier report about how the GameCube and
GameBoy Advance versions of MK: Deadly Alliance
are somehow linkable/compatable is not true. They state that after
inspecting the boxes for the final version of the game, there's nothing
that says that the two versions will interact in any way, so most likely
Midway
was planning on this but then ditched the idea. Sorry to anyone was
was exicted about this feature, maybe next time.

November 20, 2002

MK: Deadly Alliance is here!!!!Despite the fact that MK:
Deadly Alliance was slated for its anticipated "Fatality Friday"
release, it seems that many stores have recieved the PS2, XBox, and GameBoy
Advance versions of the game well beforehand. On top of that, the
GameCube version was shipped out yesterday, and supposedly it is GameBoy
Advance compatible. A lot of people in the U.S. began to report all
over the web that their local GameStop,
Electronics
Boutique, and other gaming stores were already putting out
copies on the shelves as early as Monday, the 18th, with some Circuit
City's putting them out yesterday, Best
Buy and Toys R' Us
waiting until today, and still some other stores waiting until Friday or
Saturday. Word has it that Midway
did not say specifically that stores had to adhere to the Fatality Friday
rule, so a lot of retailers, who usually put out popular games as soon
as they can, did just this and started the sale early to all pre-ordered
customers as well as some walk-ins. Unfortunately for me, I will
not be getting my copy of MK: Deadly Alliance for the PS2 until Thanksgiving
break, and I also will not be able to play it until I get back to school
since I do not personally own a Playstation. I know, pathetic, but
I can't help it. So, for all of you that have the game, enjoy playing
anf finding all the secrets before me. For those who don't yet have
the game, call ahead to make sure your local retailer has it and pick it
up if possible. Very soon, I will be posting up a new and improved
MK:
Deadly Alliance strategy section with all the moves, secrets, kodes,
stories, and so on, as well as a new looking MK Empire! I
will also be writing a review of the PS2 version from my own experience,
but as for the XBox, GameCube, and GameBoy Advance versions, I will
need others who have the game to offer their input. So, if you're
interested in doing me this favor after you've gotten a good feel for the
game, drop me a line
and I'll give you more info. But, for now, enjoy the kombat!

------> Before reading any further, my thoughts
on MK: DA so farOkay, so MK
:Deadly Alliance is finally here after nearly four long years
of anticipation, and unlike any other release in the past, I've been browsing
through many online message boards all over the web and have been studying
people's comments and critiques about the game before I actually get it
myself. Some of what I've read is highly pleasing; most, however,
is outright negative and skeptical. As a webmaster, I'd like to personally
reach out to my readers and say a few words and make a few points about
what I have seen so far. Please read these observations below.- A lot of people have been posting
plenty of spoilers about the game now that they've had time to read the
guide and play the game. No spoilers are posted on any main news
pages of MK sites, and message board topics are labeled "spoilers".
The same rules apply here; there will be no spoilers posted on this page,
and the message board needs "Spoiler" as the topic so we don't ruin the
surprises for people like myself who don't own the game yet.- A lot of people have commented
on how the game is overall just great. The graphics for each system
are smooth, controls are tight, sounds rock, and there's plenty to be challenged
by.- I've read up on a lot of discouragement
about the game since it was released. Many people feel that there
is so much missing in this game that Midway has failed once again and they've
lost all faith in the MK series. This is due to many things, such
as...1.) As of now, there seems to be
only 1 fatality per character, and most of them suck.2.) There is still nothing known
about any sort of pit stages.3.) The Krypt is mostly full of
useless pictures and other insignificant objects (besides new characters
and stages).4.) The game has changed highly
from a projectile/punch/kick game with cool finishers to a difficult combo/fighting
technique game, which the older fans hate.5.) The hidden character Mokap
sucks big balls, and cool oldies like Baraka, Kabal, and Goro are possibly
gone for good (Spoiler?).And so forth and so on. Now,
I feel I need to offer rebutals to prove some of these assumptions at least
partially wrong since as of now, it is very early to speculate if they
are all true. Hear me out...1.) I know people may feel ripped
off because fatalities are what make MK what it is, and if Boon feels that
focusing more on the fighting styles is key to a better game, and removing
a lot of fatalities is what needed to be done, he may have made a huge
mistake. But remember, just because we haven't found them yet and
just because the Brady Games strategy guide only lists one fatality per
character, does not mean that it is solid fact. Strategy guides made
by Brady always come out too early to contain all the info of the game,
just like when I bought a codebook for MK3 only to discover that it was
missing moves and a newer one was published like 2 weeks later with what
I needed. So, don't trust the books. Plus, no one has unlocked
all of the coffins yet, and Boon did mention that there is a big surprise
once all of them are opened. This surprise could be more fatalities
per character... but who knows? Just wait and see!2.) This assumption that there
are no pit stages in MK: DA has to be a bunch of crap. With all the
stages I've seen so far and all the stages that are unlockable in the Krypt,
how can there not be? I think that the conventional way to knock
people into pits with certain button sequences is long gone, but not pits
themelves. A lot of people are saying how there's no way to turn
off the barriers on stages with no walls. But, they have also noticed
that there are sections in many stages where it looks as if you can knock
people off/out of the arena. Could there actually be mid-round pit
fatalities? It's always a possibility. And to add to this,
recently people have discovered that one koffin in the Krypt unlocks a
feature that says something like Acid Spit enabled, so I think the Acid
Bath may have a "melting" pit in it. Again, wait and see!3.) Okay, the Krypt is freggin
huge, and sure a lot of koffins only have pics, info, and kurrency in them,
but there's plenty more. You get missing characters, new features,
new stages, and possibly something great once you unlock all 676 of them.
Plus, rumor has it that koffins can be opened multiple times, so there
may be more than 676 features in the bad boy.4.) No more can a player kick the
game's ass by mere button-mashing and projectile abuse. The focus
of MK: DA is now on pulling off difficult combos and using certain fighting
styles to your advantage. This may be a hard concept for older MK
fans to grasp who are so used to the former style, but this game is about
fighting, and this is exactly what is stressed the most. The replay
value will be much higher and more intense now that there's so much to
memorize, and with so much to master this game won't gain dust as quickly.
I don't know if I will like this change or not, but most likely it will
be a good one. And, this also ties in with the whole one fatality
argument as well. All I have to say is... fighting during the matches
is cool, and fatalities are great too. Which one of these two things
is focused on more we do not know yet, so... wait it out.5.) Ever since people saw the picture
of Mokap and read his story, he's gotten nothing but bad reviews.
I personally think he's kind of lame too, but what if he fights well?
Also, there are indications that he may not even be a secret character
and that this is just a joke by Midway to tease us about how the game was
made. Another speculation is that he is in the game solely because
the guy in real life who did the motion capture sequences for MK: DA wanted
a cool way to be paid. I say whatever, screw speculation, wait it
out And as for the people who were looking forward to oldies coming
back, I hate to say it here, but word is that Kabal is dead, Baraka is
dead, and Goro is dead. But, then again, this is MK, and just because
stories say so doesn't mean characters will not be back now or in the future.
Isn't Johnny Cage dead too?! Huh! Even more is that we can
see how there are 28 slots open for character endings in MK: DA.
So, either some characters have multiple endings, or there are still 6
more hidden characters. We'll have to wait and see.

Two hidden characters found in MK: DA!!Well, everyone has probably read
so much about this already, as I am late to update as usual. But,
to be informative, a few days ago with the release of the Brady
Games MK: Deadly Alliance guide book, MK fans were introduced
to two hidden characters in MK: Deadly Alliance.
The first is called Blaze, and he is a fire-like creature who seems
to be the anticipated Torch character that so many people have gossiped
about over the years, just with a different name (most likely for legal
reasons). Let me tell you, he looks phat! The second character,
who, lately, has recieved a lot of -ish from MK fans, is called Mokap.
He is basically a guy with a hat who is dressed in a motion capture suit
since he supposedly was an animator for video games in his lifetime.
He has the motion capture balls all over his body and doesn't look too
intimidating. Basically, he looks more like a rip off of Stryker,
but his story says how he is an acting buddy of Johnny Cage. TRMK
was actually the first site to post their pictures and information to the
public, but I don't think anyone really knew it because Patrick McCarron
hid the link away in a thread on his message board that said how not to
post spoilers and he didn't like them (with a sarcastic tone since he actually
did put up the spoiler himself). Unfortunately, he made it very clear
not to link to this thread or else he would kick people's asses, so you
have to find it yourself. Luckily, as you will see soon, I have other
sources :) (MK5.org)

Brady Game releases MK: DA guide bookBefore Deadly Alliance was even
in stores, a lot of people began to spill the beans about the game because
they were able to purchase the MK: Deadly Alliance Official Strategy Guide
from Brady Games
at their local game retailer. This book contains moves for every
character, as well as combos, fatalities, secrets in the Krypt, storylines,
a cool MK Trivia, as well as a timeline of all the MK games and the first
news on the two known hidden characters! Around this time,
they also updated their site with a preview of the guide for Deadly Alliance
as well. They were nice enough to put up a direct sample page of
Scorpion's moves, combos, and information for people to view in advance,
as well as this story: "The ninja Scorpion
had assumed for many years that Sub-Zero killed his family and clan, only
to later discover that the true murderer was the sorceror Quan Chi. After
revealing his treachery, Quan Chi then attempted to send Scorpion to the
5th plane of the Netherrealm. Thinking quickly, Scorpion grappled with
the sorceror at the last moment and they were both transported to that
forbidden realm. This turn of events boded well for Scorpion as his strength
increased the longer he remained there. Quan Chi's powers, however, proved
to be useless against him."You can view Scorpion's page by
going here
(it is a .pdf file, so you will need Adobe
Acrobat Reader to view it). Also, you can check out the
page for the preview of the guide book by clicking here.
What is of interest are some of the other features that Brady Games offers
(some of which are disabled at this time), and in one of the buttons they
have ou can see an unknown character who looks like he is on fire.
Of course, this is Blaze, who we wrote about above, and rumor has it that
he is really Torch with a new name. Maybe... maybe not... :)

Another fatality seen in personA while back, a frequent member
to the MK5.org site by the
name of Phoenix was the first to witness Mavado's Meat Hook Fatality.
While he was at the Nintendo
Cube Club event in Baltimore, MD, this is what he saw: "I recently
got the chance to go to a Cube Club here in Baltimore, MD and, because
it wasn't very full that night, got a chance to play the game and beat
it with Sonya. For some reason I didn't get an ending, but at one point
I lost to Mavado and he finished me off with a fatality...and man, was
it sick. First, he dug his grappling hooks into the ground and started
stepping back slowly. When he stopped, he lifted his feet in the air like
he was going to do his grappling hook/kick move. But...about two seconds
before he flew forward, SPIKES appeared at the bottom of his shoes. He
shot forward and planted his feet in Sonya's chest, knocking her to the
ground. He then twisted his feet into her body a bit. After that, when
he pulled them out, I swear I saw some kind of organ (possibly multiple
organs) come out of her body. Very bloody, but very very cool."Good job kid!

Interview with Dan "Toasty" Forden, Part IIA member of the #mortalkombat
IRC channel that goes by the name JRF, who recently posted Part I of an
interview with the music man behind MK, Dan Forden, was again nice enough
to finish off the interview with the posting of Part II. To find
out this time about Forden's past influences that have affected how he
thinks up the music for each game, read up on it at Total
Mortal Kombat.

November 14, 2002

GameSpot posts Ed Boon interviewBack on November 6th, GameSpot
was lucky enough to score a very long 20 minute interview with MK creator
himself, Ed Boon. In the video you can listen to Boon's responses
to various MK-related questions, view some clips from the PS2 opening FMV
of the game, and see a lot of in-game fights from the PS2 version as well.
Ed reveals a lot about Test Your Might and Test Your Sight, the different
modes in the game, and some secrets as well. Unfortunately, the video
is an amazing 215MB large, and it is only available to GameSpot Complete
members. Nevertheless, you can watch the streaming
version for free, but of course the quality isn't all that
great. Luckily, our friends over at The
Mortal Kombat Netherealm where nice enough to post 55 various
scans from the interview on their site, so check them out. You don't
want to miss the fatality pics!

Interview with Dan "Toasty" FordenA member of the #mortalkombat
IRC channel that goes by the name JRF was recently lucky enough to get
some questions answered by Dan "Toasty" Forden about the new style of music
that is being used in Mortal
Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Forden's take on the music in
the upcoming game is more of an evil perpective to enhance the darkness
of the game overall. To check out the Q&A session in full, hop
on over to Total
Mortal Kombat and enjoy.

TRMK dishes out great new MK: DA infoJust recently the head honcho over
at TRMK, Patrick McCarron,
was able to discover a lot more information about several aspects of MK:
Deadly Alliance from his stay at the latest Nintendo
Cube Club expo held in Chicago. The information he has
consists of fatality descriptions for Kung Lao, Shang Tsung, and Bo Rai
Cho, details about the game's endings and the final fight against sub-boss
Moloch and head-bosses Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, as well as a spoiler of
Bo Rai Cho's ending. So, if you're interested with all of this and
are willing to basically be spoiled, head on over to TRMK
and start reading.Also, on a side note, TRMK has
updated their MK:
DA Special Moves Guide with the first known fatality, which
is Scorpion's Spear through the head fatality! Read below
for the good stuff..."Scorpion throws his spear into
his victims head. At which time he starts to pull at the rope attached
to the spear a few times. And he eventually pulls his victims head right
off their body. The movements for the fatality are B, B, D, B, (X)
in the FATALITY fighting style."And yet again, TRMK has done even
more and compiled a MK:
Deadly Alliance FAQ that is set up in Q&A style after readers
sent in questions concerning MK: DA and Patrick came through with answers.
The FAQ will be updated regularly, so if you have any good questions, send
them to Patrick and he might post them up.

3 new videos at GameSpot CompleteRecently, GameSpot
Complete members were given the chance to download three
new MK: Deadly Alliance videos from the GameCube version.
In the three videso, you can see Sub-Zero fight Kung Lao, Scorpion fight
Sonya, and Scorpion finish off Li Mei with his Spear through the head fatality!!
If you're not a GameSpot Complete member, GameSpot has still been nice
enough to post about 30 screenshots
of the videos for us to see as well. But hurry, since there's a time
limit on these deadly pictures before they are locked...

PSM magazine covers MK: Deadly Alliance twiceThis month sees the appearance
of two more magazine debuts that have praised Mortal
Kombat: Deadly Alliance. First, the November issue of
PSM magazine did a little preview of the game and had a great picture of
Sub-Zero holding Scorpion's frozen head on the cover. Click
here to check that out. Then, the new issue of PSM magazine
(December, 2002 - Holiday Issue #66) gave us even more with the first
ever review of the game. They have much faith in the game,
and though they say it isn't as balanced as Tekken 4 or VF4, it does have
greater fighting aspects (obviously). They gave the game a rating
of 8 overall, just behind VF4 with a 9, and it also received a Bronze metal
and a "Must-Buy" marking for being one of the best new games for the holidays.
So, if you want to see these two articles in full, hit the newstands A.S.A.P.

November 5, 2002

Get cool stuff when you buy MK: Deadly AllianceAs I was surfing around Midway.com
awhile ago, I stumbled upon a list of stores that will be selling MK:
Deadly Alliance on Fatality Friday, and next to these stores
was a list of cool extras you can get if you purchase the game from them.
Check out the details below and pick your retailer wisely to get more for
your dollar.Circuit City -- A PS1
copy of Mortal Kombat TrilogyEB (pre-sell) -- MK:DA
Exclusive Scorpion lithographGameStop (pre-sell) --
MK:DA collectors coins of Sub-zero, Scorpion, and the Deadly AllianceHollywood Video & GameCrazy
-- MK:DA WatchKAYBEE Toys -- White
MK:DA T-shirtsTarget -- Exclusive
Adema "Immortal" CD singleToys.com -- Mini MK:DA
Strategy GuideToys R' Us -- Black MK:DA
T-shirtsTransworld -- MK:DA
Carabineer

MK5.org reveals some MK: Deadly Alliance spoilersMK5.org
recently posted a long list of some uknown facts about the final version
of MK: Deadly Alliance.
I don't want to be the one to reveal all the details, so if you feel like
finding out some interesting tidbits about the game before you play your
own copy on November 22nd, hop on over to MK5.org and read the news.

New poll upWell, the last poll was up for
about 4 months and was long overdue for completion. The question
asked "Which system will you buy MK: DA for?" The results were as
follows: 36% GameCube; 27% PS2; 18% XBox; 18% GameBoy Advance. I
was honestly surprised to see a handheld system actually tie with a more
powerful console, but I guess a lot of people own a GameBoy. Thanks
to the 99 people who voted, and make sure you check out the next poll which
asks "What aspect of MK: Deadly Alliance are you most looking forward to?"
by going to the Poll section
and voting.

November 4, 2002

First MK: Deadly Alliance moves list availableUpon his attendance at the lastest
Nintendo
Cube Tour, the webmaster of TRMK,
Patrick McCarron, was able to publish a very incomplete special moves list
for the still buggy GameCube version of MK:
Deadly Alliance. The moves list only contains a few special
moves for the available characters, but no fatalities or cheats.
However, this is prime time for when moves in the game start to show up
in the public eye, so be on the lookout daily for newly discovered special
moves, because I know that there will be a lot more than usual compared
to past MK games. So, to check out the moves list, click
here and start studying them so if you make a stop on the tour
you have the upper hand, and keep your eyes set on TRMK
to get more updates as Patrick plays more of the game over the coming weeks.

Midway issues press release for upcoming fighterWith MK:
Deadly Alliance almost ready to hit the shelves on November
22nd, Midway issued one
last press release on October 31st that pertained solely to the game itself.
Just click
here to read the entire thing, or go to the Press
Release section of this site to check it out.

New Ed Boon InterviewIt seems that a site called Computer
And Video Games was recently able to score a very interesting
Q and A session with MK creator himself, Ed Boon. The interview is
basically a large explanation of Boon's thoughts on the new MK game as
it faces strong competition and enters into the new age of home console
systems after nearly four years of development. If you're interested
in reading it all... and you should be... go
here to indulge yourself.